Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, from the luxury of his exile in Qatar, sparked public anger and controversy by addressing the Moroccan people on November 19 in a video urging them to sever ties with Israel and expel its representative in Rabat amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Morocco can correct its mistake and perform a duty,” Meshaal stated, calling on citizens to take to the streets in a virtual message during a political rally organized by Morocco’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD).
Furious Moroccans took to social media to decry the speech as a breach of the kingdom’s sovereignty and an attempt to interfere in its domestic affairs.
This incident and the considerable pro-Palestine demonstrations in Morocco in recent weeks have raised an important question: Will mounting pro-Palestinian sentiment pressure Moroccan leadership to reverse the December 2020 normalization agreement with Israel? The short answer is no.
Many Moroccans were shaken by the flow of footage depicting the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attacks.
Akin to many Arab and global capitals, tens of thousands of citizens have marched in solidarity with the Palestinian people in recent weeks. There are undeniably long-standing affinities between many Moroccans and Palestinians today due to religious, linguistic, and cultural similarities, notwithstanding their geographical distance and often divergent political trajectories.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, from the luxury of his exile in Qatar, sparked public anger and controversy by addressing the Moroccan people on November 19 in a video urging them to sever ties with Israel and expel its representative in Rabat amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Morocco can correct its mistake and perform a duty,” Meshaal stated, calling on citizens to take to the streets in a virtual message during a political rally organized by Morocco’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). Furious Moroccans took to social media to decry the speech as a breach of the kingdom’s sovereignty and an attempt to interfere in its domestic affairs.
This incident and the considerable pro-Palestine demonstrations in Morocco in recent weeks have raised an important question: Will mounting pro-Palestinian sentiment pressure Moroccan leadership to reverse the December 2020 normalization agreement with Israel? The short answer is no.
Many Moroccans were shaken by the flow of footage depicting the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attacks. Akin to many Arab and global capitals, tens of thousands of citizens have marched in solidarity with the Palestinian people in recent weeks.
There are undeniably long-standing affinities between many Moroccans and Palestinians today due to religious, linguistic, and cultural similarities, notwithstanding their geographical distance and often divergent political trajectories.
Source: Atlanticcouncil
